Mariners dismiss manager McLaren

Mariners dismiss manager McLaren
Riggleman named replacement for remainder of season
By Jim Street / MLB.com

SEATTLE -- The so-called dream job that landed in John McLaren's lap almost one year ago ended on Thursday morning when he became the latest victim to the Mariners' nightmarish season.

Almost two hours before the team was scheduled to fly to Atlanta for a three-game Interleague series against the Braves, the club announced that McLaren had been dismissed as manager.

In the past two-plus weeks, the Mariners have dismissed hitting coach Jeff Pentland, general manager Bill Bavasi and now McLaren.

"John worked extremely hard, but our team continued to underperform compared to our expectations of them," interim GM Lee Pelekoudas said in a statement released by the club. "With 90 games left on our schedule, we owe it to ourselves and our fans to do everything we can to win as many games as possible. At the same time, as we move towards the trade deadline and decisions have to be made on the futures of the players on our ballclub, I wanted to see if a different voice could make a difference in their performance."

Jim Riggleman, who was on the Mariners staff as the bench coach, has been named manager for the remainder of the 2008 season. He is the 13th full-time manager in Mariners history.

Riggleman managed the Padres from late 1992 through 1994 and the Cubs from 1995-99. His record with both teams was 486-598 (.448).

"Jim is an experienced baseball man with broad experience as both a Major League manager and coach. He is intimately familiar with our club and I believe he will do a fine job," Pelekoudas said.

Lee Elia, who replaced Pentland as the full-time hitting coach, becomes the bench coach and Juan Castro, who has been with the team for the past two weeks assisting Elia, takes over the hitting coach duties. The other coaches -- pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, bullpen coach Norm Charlton, first-base coach Eddie Rodriguez and third-base coach Sam Perlozzo -- remain with the team.

"We want to thank John for his service to the Mariners," Pelekoudas added. "He has dedicated many years of his baseball career to help build baseball in Seattle. We appreciate all of his hard work and wish him all the best in the future."

It's about time!

Lee Elia rules!


I love his rant on YOU Tube when he was manager of the Cubs in the early 80's